Ought Everyone Pay some Income Tax? - August 2011

I wrote an article a few days ago for Conservative Home questioning the democratic issues raised by raising the Income Tax threshold. I was surprised to be attacked from both the Left and the Right for my thoughts... not often that happens!

The principle I was arguing is that if more people are removed from paying any level of Income Tax whatsoever, the less engaged they will be with our governments and that is not a good thing for democracy. A sliding scale of taxes should touch almost everyone - but the lowest paid should be touched the least. I don't think it is healthy to have a large body of voters unaffected by the most politicised and electorally sensitive tax. What do you think?